Story posted Thursday, July 2, 2009
Four-year-old Kyle Foley survives the mechanical bull during Sunday's "Little Boots Rodeo" in Elk Grove Village. (Tom Wessell/The Journal)
'Little Boots Rodeo' Struts Into Elk Grove
About 1,000 people came to the Elk Grove Park District grounds on Leicester Road for the second annual Little Boots Rodeo.
For a second year, Mayor Craig Johnson lasted longer on the mechanical bull than event organizer Jack Groat who challenged Johnson to the bull riding competition at last month's village board meeting.
At that same meeting the mayor and trustees donned cowboy hats and Johnson mounted a bouncy ball and hopped through the council chambers.
Kids aged three to 10 panned for "fools gold," participated in stick horse races, raced on bouncy balls and showed off their best western ware as children were recognized for best dressed cowboy and cowgirl.
Native Americans from the American Indian Center in Chicago also performed Native American traditional dances.
In addition to the regular sized mechanical bull Groat and Johnson rode in their competition, a smaller bull was brought in for kids to ride.
Park District officials said the most popular attractions were the mechanical bull and the pig races.
Attendance was significantly up for this year's event with 274 kids registering for events and a total of about 1,000 people attending.
Last year, which took on rain the day of the event, saw a total of 200 kids register and about 600 people attend.
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